In Psalm 55 David is pushed to the very limits emotionally. His enemy has become loud, and they fill the land, making David feel alone. However, it is right at this point where David establishes himself as someone who is not typical, for when things are tough, he does not give up or give in, but prays. He prays to God who is for Him. What does he pray for? That God who is righteous would sustain him in the midst of His battle with his enemies. If he is going to make it, it is only in God’s strength, not his own. If you wish to know more, check out the latest podcast just posted on "Morning Mercies. Now available on all major podcast platforms.
The Daily Psalms are given with the intention to encourage Christians to read and meditate on these scriptures in order to grow in their faith and relationship with God. They are released every Tuesday and Thursday for the following week on all major Podcast platforms. May the Lord bless you as you ponder His Word.
Presented by Michael Mullen
It is interesting that reading all of the psalms in order leads us to see things we wouldn’t see if we would have read them in isolation. We have been reading the Psalms in a daily progression, and for the last twenty or so we have seen David sorely oppressed by his enemies. They seek to cause him to stumble. They desire to see him removed from the scene. If there is a way to hurt him, they want to see it done. These enemies have been foreigners, his sovereign King, and most painful of all, a group who were once his friends. All of these enemies lack one thing that David had, a knowledge of He who was sovereign over everything and everyone. David had a relationship with God based on God’s graciousness and goodness. Because of this, when his enemies sought his life he would pray for God’s strength and mercy in the situation.
In Psalm 55 David is pushed to the very limits emotionally. His enemy has become loud, and they fill the land, making David feel alone. He can get no rest from any of this, for when he closes his eyes he hears their voices. When he lays upon his bed, his mind turns back to what they have said and the designs they have for him. His nights are filled with moaning and anxiousness. During the day his “moaning” continue, for his mind cannot think of anything but those who hate him. Maybe you have been where David finds himself in Psalm 55. It’s a place where if it were at all possible, he would flee and escape, but that simply is not an option.
However, it is right at this point where David establishes himself as someone who is not typical, for when things are tough, he does not give up or give in, but prays. He prays to God who is for Him. What does he pray for? That God who is righteous would sustain him in the midst of His battle with his enemies. If he is going to make it, it is only in God’s strength, not his own. But God’s strength is some thing you receive, not something you have at your command or control. Therefore David must trust God, in His goodness, that He will give it to him. In fact, these are David’s closing words in this Psalm, “but I will trust in you.” They can do what ever they want, but no matter what they do, I will trust in God. Our trust in God for our lives and all the trials and burdens that might fill it is the most decisive choice we can make. For if we trust Him for our welfare, what can our enemies do to us? Like Paul says in Romans 8, If God is for us, what can our enemies do or say against God?
There is something else I have noticed in the Psalms as we have been reading them. Often David will let us glimpse his praying in all its details, and then will drop a stanza of teaching. So he does in Psalm 55 in verse 22.
Cast your burden on the Lord,
and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
Here is a truth that we need deep in our hearts if we are going to know the sustaining mercy of our God. Life may be hard and full of suffering. Through our days we may learn what pain is in the most intimate terms. Yet these things are not the last word concerning life- He is! The bottom line about all trials and battles from the perspective of our enemies is to get us to quit, to give up on ourselves and God, and fall into despair and nothingness. They want to remove us from the presence of the Almighty, the all Gracious God. Yet if we are His, God will not allow us to be moved beyond His side. Her is with us. He is for us. We are never alone. What else matters?
If you are in there midst of an attack from enemies who would like to see you crash your faith, pray to Him who can sustain you in the midst of it all. Trust Him. In the end you are going to see, He has it all under control.